ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have strongly condemned the Quetta bomb blast. "Terrorists who targeted the innocent would not be spared," President Musharraf said in a statement.
"Such incidents cannot deter the government from carrying on its development projects" in Balochistan to bring it up on a par with other provinces, the president said. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz denounced the incident as a "dastardly act of terrorism" and vowed tough action against the perpetrators.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid termed the incident heinous and blamed the attack on enemies of the country who wanted to destabilize Pakistan. Spokesman of the Inter Services Public Relations Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan described the blast as a terrorist act but said: "One can't say the target was specifically the army vehicle." -AFP
OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT IN QUETTA ADDS: Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf, Deputy Speaker Balochistan Assembly Mohammad Aslam Bhootani and provincial ministers have condemned the Friday's bomb blast in Quetta.
The governor in a statement issued here on Friday termed the incident an inhuman act and said that the perpetrators did not deserve any mercy and promised that they would soon be traced out.
He urged people to be vigilant and said they should help the government in eliminating terrorists. He expressed grief over the incident and prayed for the departed souls and expressed sympathies with the aggrieved families.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf expressed shock over the incident and directed police and other law-enforcement agencies to spare no effort to arrest terrorists involved in the bomb blast.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the security arrangements in the provincial capital, he directed the DIG, Quetta, to take more effective steps. The chief minister assured the grieved families that culprits involved in the blast would be arrested soon.
The Deputy Speaker Balochistan Assembly, Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, also condemned the blast and urged the government to arrest the people responsible for the incident.
